Summer Of Anthology

Grade 11 Literary Arts - Chapbooks

When Keith was 15 years old... he tried to do something while home alone. Keith is 16 years old. His friends and family know his name. His medication helps. He’s talking to doctors. He’s figuring it out. Keith’s favourite colour is yellow now.

by any other name

When Keith was 4 years old, he liked pink. If you asked him for his favourite colour that’s what he would say. But really, he didn’t have a preference for one colour over another. But it felt mandatory. Like Disney princesses. He didn’t dislike them, but if you had asked him why he had stickers of Belle and Jasmine on his bedroom walls, he would have thought for a second and said “I’m supposed to”. He preferred Pixar movies anyways.&nbsp; When Keith was 5 years old, his aunt and cousins moved closer to where he lived, so they visited more often. One of Keith’s cousins was the same age as him, and his favourite show was Power Rangers. Keith didn’t care much for Power Rangers, but he thought his cousin was cool, so he played along. He was the pink Power Ranger. If you asked Keith to explain why he liked Power Rangers, he would say, “my cousin likes it, and he’s cool”. If you asked him why his cousin was cool, he’d think for a moment and say, “He’s a boy. Boys are cool”.&nbsp; When Keith was 7 years old, his mom gave him a balaclava to wear to school in the winter. He didn’t really like it, because it would get gross and wet where your mouth was when you breathed, but it kept his face warm. One day, he and his friend found a group of older boys stomping on frozen puddles at recess. They thought it looked fun and joined in. One puddle was particularly tough to crack, so Keith started jumping on it instead of stomping. One of the older boys said “Guys, start jumping on the ice like him!” When the group headed to the next puddle, Keith pulled his friend aside and asked him not to tell. He liked his balaclava more after that.&nbsp;

When Keith was 9 years old, he asked his mom if he could cut his hair short. A girl in his class had gotten a pixie cut and he wanted one too. She said he could. Later that month, he was in one of the school bathrooms when a trio of little girls came in. They stared at him in confusion, and one looked to her friends and asked “Why is there a boy in here?” Keith didn’t know why, but that made him feel proud.&nbsp; When Keith was 12 years old, he started wearing hoodies more. One hoodie really. It was big and black and draped over him. He would go months without washing it because he didn’t like to go places without it. Keith also grew his hair out again. He said he wanted to try styling it. He never did though. It always looked wrong to him when he did.&nbsp; When Keith was 13 years old, he and his mom went to the mall. They bought a dress that was plaid, pastel purple, pink and green. Keith thought it was pretty. One day, his family went to see a movie. Keith wore the dress, and had his hair in two low loose buns. He stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He didn’t know what he felt. That image is burned into his memory. When Keith was 14 years old, he started binding his chest. He didn’t have a proper binder, so he used sports bras. one on backwards, then two on normally. It hurt his ribs sometimes, but he didn’t mind. He only ever took it off to shower. His mom got him a real binder over the summer

cold weather by glass beach

smoke

I want to think you did that because you feel the same, but I know deep down that you didn’t I have all these hints for you to miss and I want to feel your hand in mine, the emptiness there leaves me cold even with the summer weather and I can’t sleep because I stay up late to scroll through our conversations and just think about all the moments that we missed I need you

clattering on the kitchen floor of broken, shattered glass his family, his Brother, his Brother, gone he’s in shock, he can’t think he falls to the floor&nbsp; and the smoke fills his lungs no point going home if no one’s there so he walks through the streets the streets that seem so empty now and finds himself in the town square where those who’ve lost are gathered and beg each other for answers but there can’t be answers not for this and the smoke fills his lungs he used to be an artist when the world felt safe now his only creations are the things he rolls that don’t make him feel better he stifles a sob and the smoke fills his lungs

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Riley McArthur was on a mission. He slunk from his cabin and stepped out under the starry sky. His destination was visible even though it was dark, as if it was being spotlit by the moon. The counselors cabin. Most of the camp was barren of any kind of internet connection, but the counselors cabin had the wifi necessary for making emergency calls or getting in contact with scout’s parents. That was also where the kids' phones were kept, since the Buck Scouts were all about connecting with nature. However, tonight it was incredibly important that Riley sent a happy birthday message.&nbsp; He approached the cabin window, making sure that everyone was asleep. The common area was empty, leading Riley to believe that the counselors were in bed. He twisted the doorknob, which was unsurprisingly locked. Fortunately, Riley had recently earned his Buck Scout Lockpicking Merit Badge. He took a bobby pin out of his pocket and wiggled it around in the lock until he heard a satisfying click. Slowly opening the door, Riley tiptoed into the room. The scout’s phones were piled in a plastic tub on the table. He fished through it until he found his phone, and turned it on, momentarily blinded by it’s light. He had 8 notifications, all from Parker.

parker: hey parker: i know u probably arent seeing these but like parker: im bored parker: so im just gonna spam u so ur phone goes crazy once u have wifi parker: thats what u get for going to camp on my birthday parker: pretty cringe of u tbh parker: once its ur birthday im gonna invent winter camp and go there parker: gonna live in the snow for 2 months to spite u parker: ha

He exhaled softly through his nose, he couldn’t really laugh without the risk of waking up a counselor. Riley had no time to waste.

Riley: I’m breaking the rules for you, hope you know Riley: Happy birthday parker :)

children's liquid tylenol

content warning: references to substance abuse

It had been 3 weeks since everyone froze in time. Everyone except the teenagers. Sunny was surprised by how few people had died so far. She could take some credit for that, she supposed. Charlie and Bennet had stepped up as the mayors, and they had asked Sunny to be the town's doctor, since she took some first aid courses when she was a camp counselor. She couldn’t have said no, she was technically the most qualified, but that wasn’t saying much. She knew how to do CPR and bandage cuts properly, not set broken bones. She’d been trying to keep track of which kids were on medication, but it proved to be difficult. Plus she was the one called on when groups of kids hurt themselves doing the stupid shit that would get them in trouble if their parents were there. It seemed like these kids wanted to get themselves killed sometimes. Though she supposed some of them probably did. The reality of their situation was dawning on them.&nbsp; She was on a drug raid today. Going from house to house to find any meds they didn’t want in the hands of unsupervised kids. This house was painfully stagnant. It had truly frozen in place. The TV was on, playing static. A minefield of legos was strewn across the living room floor. As Sunny entered the kitchen, she was hit by the overwhelming stench of rotting food. There were plates of moldy chicken on the counter, having festered for 3 weeks. Sunny plugged her nose and scoured the cabinets for pill bottles. Advil and children’s liquid tylenol. She pocketed them.&nbsp;

She crossed back through the living room, stepping on a lego as she passed. Sunny cursed under her breath, and picked up the little plastic toy. It was a lego shark. She stared into its stupid lego face. Fury boiled inside of her. With a snarl, Sunny threw the shark across the room. Collapsing to her knees, a sob escaped her lips. What was she doing here? She was a kid, in a stranger's house, stealing medicine to stop other kids from trying to overdose on it. She was a kid who was supposed to be able to play with fucking legos and not have to worry about every other asshole in the goddamn world. She was a kid who needed to grow up in 3 weeks to be everyone’s doctor and caretaker and keep them all safe.&nbsp; She picked up the little lego shark, opened the door, and staggered out into the street.

marshall lokke

He had such pretty eyes. It was such a generic thing to notice, but He had such pretty eyes. They were soft and almond shaped, and green. Green like forests and moss and lime candies and glass. he wouldn’t mind if everything was green if it was green like Marshall’s eyes.&nbsp; he gazed across the classroom at Him. Marshall used to be seated next to him, but the teacher had rearranged the desks a couple days ago. Now they were separated, placed at opposite ends of the room. It was like the teacher knew that instead of simplifying fractions he would be watching Marshall out of the corner of his eye, hoping to glimpse ebony hair peeking out from under His hat. Hoping for His reassuring smile. Hoping for world consuming green.&nbsp; he wondered if Marshall ever gazed back at him. He didn’t. he knew He didn’t. Not the way he wanted. he wasn’t mad. It did hurt though. Marshall already had someone to gaze at. Charlie.

Charlie who was a genius and was beautiful and was a little infuriating in the sense that he couldn’t really be upset about her because she was a genuinely lovely person to be around. Her desk was next to his now, which felt like cosmic irony to him. Marshall was laughing softly about something she had said, and she was grinning. She was wearing a green sweater. It was too yellow. Not vibrant enough. Not His green. he didn’t know why that meant something.&nbsp; Marshall noticed him staring. He smiled, such a genuine smile, and waved to him from his desk that felt a million miles away. And in that moment he felt ok with it all. he didn’t want anything. he didn’t need to be anything. All he needed was green.

men should talk about their mental health more

Keith and Corey sit in Corey’s basement. Keith is on a beanbag chair and has a cannabis cigarette. Corey is on the couch with a handheld game. He is tense. Corey: Aren’t you, like, concerned at all? Keith: Oh I totally am dude. I’m just blocking it out. [He takes a hit, then laughs]. I’m scared shitless man. [He gestures to the cigarette]. D’you want some? Corey: Nah. The smoke's bad for your lungs dude. Don’t like it. Keith: Suit yourself man. [he takes another hit]&nbsp;Are you gonna be okay? I know this is kinda messing you up. Corey: I'll be fine. I'm just gonna... play my game and forget about it. He reverts his attention to the handheld game, but keeps glancing around the room nervously. Keith puts the cigarette out. Keith: How's the game going? Corey: Bad. I keep dying. Can't focus.

The two sit in silence for a while. Corey is still visibly stressed. He slams the game shut and shifts his position, sitting cross legged. He puts his head in his hands. Corey: I can’t deal with this, man. I just wanna… I don’t even know. It feels like when my grandma died. Like I wanted to block it all out but I also felt like I had to fixate on it. Like I can’t just ignore this but I just really want to, y’know? I don’t know what to do, man. I just… Don’t know what to do. Keith: Shit man, c’mere.&nbsp; Corey flops down on the beanbag chair next to him. Keith hugs Corey with one arm, and pats him. Corey is holding back tears.&nbsp; Keith: We’re gonna get through this, dude. We’re gonna get through this.

constructive criticism for summer camps and babies

The fact that summer camps had no wifi was a grave injustice, in Parker’s opinion. He reloaded his messages, reloaded his messages, reloaded his messages. Nothing. He was holding out for Riley to have somehow found a signal all the way down at Lake Soeka. Whatever. He was pretty sure the Buck Scouts took their phones anyway.&nbsp; Parker hated having a summer birthday. Yeah school was out or whatever, but what did that really do? Let you have a weekday birthday party? What was the point of even having a party without your best friend there anyways. Parker didn’t even want one that bad so who cares. Summer was stupid and it was too hot and Riley was busy learning how to tie knots or something. Whatever. Who cares. Parker didn’t.&nbsp; He should try to send Riley a message. In case he had wifi. And had his phone. Parker pocketed his phone and went over to his computer, opening his and Riley’s chat. He preferred using the computer’s braille keyboard over voice to text.&nbsp;

parker: hey parker: i know u probably arent seeing these but like parker: im bored parker: so im just gonna spam u so ur phone goes crazy once u have wifi parker: thats what u get for going to camp on my birthday parker: pretty cringe of u tbh parker: once its ur birthday im gonna invent winter camp and go there parker: gonna live in the snow for 2 months to spite u parker: ha

This was stupid. He should just go to bed. Parker spun around in his chair and flopped forward onto his mattress. He hated everything right now. He hated that he decided to be born in summer. How was baby Parker supposed to know that his best friend would be a stupid ourdoorsman who thinks it’s fun to spend 2 months in the woods getting bitten by bugs. He thought baby Parker should have been informed about this before he decided to exit the womb. But whatever. He didn’t care.

before we walked

this isn't a poem

before we walked we ran over hills and through forests too quickly to think and too young to stop because stopping made us weak and stopping made us think and we were too young to be this old so we ran before we limped we walked wading through rivers and walking empty streets and our thoughts tried to catch up&nbsp; but we couldn’t let them and we chattered while we walked we carried each other’s hearts in our hands they were delicate before we crawled we limped past caverns and abandoned towns and we wonder how the world got to be this way but only in the moments we couldn’t shut out and no one could talk anymore there was no more room for noise&nbsp; the world was too small before we died we crawled into the dark and under the stars and one by one we stopped something inside broke and before we died we thought why the world would let this happen we were just kids

When our eyes met, I I don’t know how to describe that feelings are hard and weird and kinda cheesy&nbsp; I don’t think she’d really like that kinda thing I should start over new start let’s go ok I wrote that like half an hour ago and then didn’t add anything so maybe I should find a new theme to focus on because right now I’m just sitting here How To Write About Your Cool Girlfriend Who Is Basically Perfect When You Have Stupid Dumb Brain Disease And Can’t Think Of Any Words why are you even trying to write her a poem it isn’t 1584 you aren’t shakespeare&nbsp; and you had to google when shakespeare was alive to make that reference so you’re also a fake fan of shakespeare you should go to bed this isn’t coherent anymore ok goodnight&nbsp; sorry

Dedicated to Delaney, my beloved, who inspired this whole thing

i didn't miss the cold weather i just missed you - glass beach

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